I find announcing your engagement a little outdated but I love the romance of it so I thought I’d include this etiquette as well.
Depending on your situation, there’s many different ways to publish your engagement. One word of advice, you shouldn’t give the exact date or your exact address because of security reasons. You don’t want anyone breaking into your house after you’ve gotten all your wedding presents, not to mention your diamond ring.
Let’s say Mary Smith and Joe Brown are getting married.
This is the easiest and most common way to announce it. The city is mentioned only when it’s different from where the newspaper is published.
“Mr. & Mrs. John Smith of Dundas Street announce the engagement of their daughter, Mary Smith, to Joseph Brown the son of Mr. & Mrs. James Brown of Ottawa. No date has been set yet (or the wedding will take place in December).”
If your parents are divorced
the parent you live with makes the announcement but both parents are mentioned. Let’s say you live with your mother, she could use a combination of her maiden and married name, or her first and last name.
“Mrs. Johanna Smith announces the engagement of her daughter, Mary Smith, to Joseph Brown, the son of Mr. & Mrs. James Brown of Ottawa. Miss Brown is also the daughter of Mr. John Smith of Vancouver.”
If your parents are divorced, but still friendly, they may choose to announce together.
“Mr. John Smith of Vancouver and Mrs. Johnson Smith of Dundas Street, Toronto, announce the engagement of their daughter, Mary Smith, to Joseph Brown, the son of Mr. & Mrs. James Brown of Ottawa.”
If your mother has remarried she uses he current married name – Mrs. Euclid Cormier.
Mr & Mrs. Euclid Cormier announce the engagement of Mrs. Cormier’s daughter, Mary Smith, to Joseph Brown, the son of Mr. & Mrs. James Brown of Ottawa. Miss Mary Smith is also the daughter of Mr. John Smith of Vancouver.
If one of your parent’s is deceased, your announcement would be as follows:
“The engagement of Miss Mary Smith, daughter of Mrs. John Smith and the late Mr. John Smith, to Joseph Brown, son of Mr. & Mrs. James Brown of Ottawa, is announced by the bride’s mother.”
If both your parents have passed away, then a brother or sister or close relative can make the announcement.
“Mr. Steven Johnson of Hamilton announces the engagement of his niece, Miss Mary Smith, to Mr. Joseph Brown, the son of Mr. & Mrs. James Brown of Ottawa. Miss Smith is the daughter of the late Mr. & Mrs. John Smith.”
If you want to announce your own wedding:
Say both your parents hate each other and you’re arguing about this announcement, so do it yourself. The groom’s family is never to announce the engagement (that is very bad etiquette), even in their own city’s paper.
“Judy Cormier, Elementz of Fotographie, is to be married in November to Mel Gibson, actor for Paramount Pictures of Los Angeles. Miss Cormier is the daughter of Mr. Euclid Cormier of Vancouver and Mrs. Paula Johnson Cormier of Grand Bend. Mr. Gibson is the son of Mr. & Mrs. John Gibson of Sydney, Australia.”
If your fiancé’s parents are the ones that are dead or divorced, just adapt the etiquette from the bride’s divorced parents above.
Second Marriage
Nowadays it’s perfectly acceptable to announce a second marriage. Of course, no mention of the first marriage please. You could use the first announcement on this page.
Newspaper

Check out your local newspapers to see how their announcements are worded. When you decide to publish, get in touch with the lifestyle editor.